Intense fighting continues in Yemen

Fighting between security forces and anti-government demonstrators continues in Yemen. Mexican activists are campaigning for an end to violence in the country. And a site offering all sorts of advice on how to get the most from your computer.

Intense fighting continues in Yemen

On Tuesday, residents of the Yemen capital Sanaa were woken up by the sound of automatic arms fire. With ongoing clashes between government forces and Yemeni tribesmen who have joined the opposition, the country is closer to civil war than ever before.

Areas where fighting has been reported have been indicated on this map, which is being relayed on networks by cyber activists, concerned about the escalating violence.

Some however, like Hamza are still hopeful the protest movement will remain peaceful. He says he has been camping out at Sanaa’s University square for over 100 days. In this interview uploaded to the blog "Women from Yemen", the 24 year old protester says he will never resort to violence when protesting against the regime.

It’s also a way of denouncing the repression inflicted by forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Dozens of protesters have been killed in the southern city of Taez in recent days. This video was uploaded on Sunday, and appears to show soldiers throwing stones and firing live ammunition at protesters.

In response, opposition leaders called for rallies across the country on Tuesday. And as we can see in this footage which appears to have been filmed in Dhamar in south west Yemen, demonstrators who have been taking part in anti-government protests for the past four months, once again turned out en masse.

Mexico: blood fountains to protest against violence

On Monday, a Mexican activist movement poured red colouring into a fountain located close to one of Mexico City’s largest streets to denounce the rivers of blood that have been shed in Mexico for months now. This is the latest action in their campaign on the government to rethink its drug war policy, which these citizens feel is partly responsible for the recent flare up of violence in the country.

The movement "Paremos las balas, pintemos las fuentes", meaning "Let’s stop the bullets, let’s paint the fountains" states on its blog that it is high time to draw up a new social pact in Mexico to put an end to the violence which is corrupting society. The activists are demanding the authorities completely rethink their drug war strategy, protect citizens, and respect human rights.

The people of Mexico are becoming increasingly frustrated with this conflict between security forces and drug traffickers which has reportedly left 35 000 people dead in the country over the past four years. 80 000 to 90 000 citizens took part in a mass rally in the capital early May to protest against the violence and try to put an end to the current situation.

Despite this massive peace movement, murders and other barbaric vengeful acts continue to take place in the country, on a daily basis. According to "El Blog del narco", a site which provides coverage of drug cartel violence, on Monday alone, two beheaded bodies were found in Tuxtepec, two people were shot dead in Ciudad Juarez and there was also a double homicide in the state of Chihuahua…

Pencil Vs Camera

Belgian artist Ben Heine has superimposed pencil drawings on photos to kind of play these two art forms off on one another. And web users can check out his work, as much of it is exhibited online. The project is called "Pencil vs Camera", and takes you to a place somewhere between dreams and reality.

Learn how to use your computer

Learn how to copy and paste, add a contact to your emails or add a 3D effect to one of your documents… this is the sort of thing web users can learn on the site "Thinktutorial.com" which posts thousands of free lessons to help you learn how to use all these computer tools which have now become indispensable. These simple explanations come with screen shots and will be useful for both pros and beginners.

Video of the day

Here’s a stunning video of the night sky, filmed by the Very Large Telescope, set up at an altitude of over 2 600 meters in the Atacama desert in Chili where the climate lends itself particularly well to star gazing. It’s one of the most powerful telescopes in the world. The video was put together using high definition photos taken by Frenchman Stéphane Guisard and Porto Rican Jose Francisco Salgado.